July 2018 OMG: Red Scrappy Trips Top is Complete!

July has been a big month for quilting in red around here. It is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and it is also the color of my One Monthly Goal project. My goal for the month was to take the 20 Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks shown here...

and get them joined into a quilt top before the end of the month. Not a difficult task, and I did reach my goal, but it took a slightly different turn than originally planned.

Red Scrappy Trips, 60" x 75"

As you can see in comparing the two photos, the layout of my blocks changed by the time they all got stitched together. Somehow I zigged a little earlier than planned. It's not better or worse, just different. The best part is that the blocks are all together and I have a completed quilt top!

My blocks were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2017, using Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World pattern. Her pattern is made with 2.5" strips, but I used 3" strips for my version. My blocks finish at 15".

Just for fun, here are a couple of close shots of some favorite fabrics.

I am linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I'm also sharing my One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Second Scrappy Trips Top (maybe)

I've been missing out on participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-ups for the last several weeks. My quilting time has been very limited, and most of that time has been spent on Bonnie Hunter's new mystery. This morning I decided that it was time to set the mystery aside for the day and get back to one of my 2017 RSC projects, the Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks. Last month I shared the first quilt top, made with all the warm-colored Scrappy Trips blocks (in THIS POST.)

Today was the day to get the remaining blocks joined together into another quilt top. There are only 20 blocks, so they went together fairly quickly. Here is the completed cool Scrappy Trips top.

Just like with the first top, I had to look through the stash and see if there were any fabrics just waiting to become a border for this quilt. I found two options to audition. The first is a printed plaid, probably from the late 1990s. The colors aren't bad, but I was wishing there was a brighter green in it.

Option #2 does include some brighter green. In fact, it seems to have all the colors I used in my blocks. This might be the one!! I'm having trouble getting good photos so late in the day, so I'm going to leave them up on the wall together and make up my mind tomorrow. You all know I love to hear your opinions too! Current size without border is 60" x 75", a good size for a throw quilt. If I add a border, I could easily bring it up to a twin size.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Saturday 12/9/17

I'm excited to have a finished quilt to share this week, even though I wasn't the person who finished it. Sometimes you just need a partner in crime (or quilting.)

Regular readers of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge posts will remember the group of blocks I was making in April when our color assignment was "multicolor." The blocks were based on the pattern "Tranquil Treasures" from the book Strips and Strings: 16 Sparkling Quilts by Evelyn Sloppy. I was trying to use up a collection of 2" watercolor strips from the late 1990's, and the fabrics just didn't excite me. I made enough blocks for a throw quilt, then set them all aside.

In September, Cynthia of Quilting is more fun than Housework hosted her fall Quilty Adoption Event. I offered my multicolor blocks up for adoption, with the preference that they be finished as part of a donation quilt. The winner was Chris in Shelby, NC. A couple days ago she sent me this photo of the finished quilt which will be donated by her quilt guild to the local women's shelter. I'm so pleased that she got it done so quickly and that it is going to a wonderful cause. Great job Chris!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

First Scrappy Trips Top Done! (Maybe?)

It has been such a lovely, relaxing past few days, even with all the Thanksgiving cooking, eating and cleaning up. My mother is down from Wisconsin for a week, and we couldn't wish for a less-demanding guest. We are all enjoying hanging out together, and I get plenty of encouragement to spend some time quilting. They know how to keep me happy and sane!

Yesterday I finished joining the warm-colored Scrappy Trips blocks together into a top, and I thought I had my first finished top from this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. Then I decided to see if I had any fabrics that would work as a border. I didn't expect to find anything, but you never know, right?

Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt top
pattern by Bonnie Hunter

I have a large stack of fabrics in what I consider fall colors--gold, rust, orange, red, burgundy, brown. It seems like there should be something that would work with this quilt. I ran into two problems--the first was that none of the fabrics included pink, and the second was that they included other colors like green and/or purple. There was really only one border possibility, and I don't think it's going to work. At first I loved it, but now I've changed my mind.

Scrappy Trips with border possibility

When I pulled out this fabric, I was excited because it was the only one that included pink. However, the more I look at it, the more I feel that it's too dark for this quilt. I prefer the way the quilt top looks without a border. I guess that means my quilt top is done after all!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Neapolitan Stars

I love the combination of pink and brown together in a quilt! These stars are planned to become two separate quilts, one with the smaller blocks and one with the larger, but I couldn't resist a photo of them all together on the design wall. My plan is to make these blocks each month as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2018. The pattern is Scraptastic Star by Melissa Corey, and I look forward to making these stars in a full rainbow of colors.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scraptastic Star in Browns

I had hoped to get my Scrappy Trips blocks joined together into a quilt top last week, but that did not happen because I was focused on another quilt that is currently filling my design wall. That doesn't mean no progress on Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects though--I did make one 16" Scraptastic Star block using brown scraps.

Scraptastic Star
pattern by Melissa Corey

I figured out a tentative plan for these blocks as part of my RSC stitching for next year. I made two pink blocks last month using the same light fabric in both blocks for the stars and chains of squares, but then realized that I won't have enough of that fabric for two quilts. I will continue to use that fabric on my 12" blocks, but I'm switching things up for the 16" blocks. The plan is to pull out a white or cream based fabric that includes the color of the month in the print. I am crazy about the fabric I found for this brown block--sewing notions! (I used my flash on the following photo, which made it look much more yellow than it really is.)

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Brown Scrappy Trips

A decision has finally been made on the finishing plan for the Scrappy Trips blocks that I have been making for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge! I am going to make two throw quilts, one using the warm-colored blocks and the other from the cool colors. Before I could start joining any of the blocks together, I needed to make a set of brown blocks to complete the warm group.

Scrappy Trips blocks
pattern by Bonnie Hunter

Four blocks done, and I'm ready to get them up on the design wall together with the rest of the warm blocks. I hope to have at least one completed quilt top to show next week, maybe even two!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

A New RSC Plan in Pink

I've started thinking about new projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for next year. This has involved spending several hours going through my Pinterest board of rainbow quilts, plus looking through some of my quilt pattern books. However, there was one pattern that I first saw early this year and knew that it would become a future RSC project for me.

Scraptastic Star
pattern by Melissa Corey

Melissa Corey's Scraptastic Star was the March block for the 2017 Aurifil Designer Block of the Month. The above block is the one she shared on her website. I love that her pattern uses many scraps of a single color for each block, perfect for the RSC! Most of my previous RSC projects have involved making multiple blocks of each color, but generally did not use lots of different fabrics in each block.

Since I had already finished my Scrappy Trips blocks in pink for October, I decided to give this pattern a try and make sure I liked it. Here is my first block. Like Melissa's pattern, this block is made from 2" squares (cut size) and finishes at 12".

Scraptastic Star, 12" block

Since I have lots of 2.5" squares and strips in my stash, I thought I would see how the block looks with that size too. This block finishes at 16".

Scraptastic Star, 16" block

Here's a photo of the two blocks together so you can see how they compare.

Scraptastic Stars
pattern by Melissa Corey

I can't decide which size block I like better. I guess that means I will just have to make both sizes each month. I certainly have enough scraps around to do that! I'm also thinking about going even smaller (1.5" cut squares = 8" finished block) or larger (3" squares = 20" block.) Stay tuned...

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Laying Out the Scrappy Trips

The Scrappy Trips blocks have been arranged in a myriad of different ways on the design wall this week. One of my ideas was to make two throw quilts, one with the warm-colored blocks and one with the cools. 20 blocks set 4 x 5 would make a throw quilt that measures 60" x 75". Here are a few arrangements of my warm blocks.

Diagonal bands

Hills and Valleys

Barn Raising

As usual, I am having a very hard time choosing between these. Let me know what you think. You might have noticed that I swapped out one of the purple blocks for brown in the last photo. I'm thinking about making a set of beige and brown blocks to go with the other warm colors and putting the purples with the cool colors instead. Those are going up on the wall next!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Trips in Pink

It took most of the week, but I finished making my pink Scrappy Trips blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Friday night. This may be the last group of blocks I make for this project. I'm hoping to get all the colors up on the wall this weekend and decide on a setting.

Scrappy Trips Around the World
15" blocks made from 3" strips
pattern by Bonnie Hunter

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Pink Strips for Scrappy Trips

It seemed like there would be plenty of time for me to start working on my pink Scrappy Trips blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week, but it didn't work out that way. All I was able to do was pull out some pink strips, choose groups of six for the gradation of color, and get them cut to the right lengths. No stitching yet, but maybe over the weekend.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Orange Blocks for September

When I was pulling out all of  the orange blocks I've made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month, I made the happy discovery that my Scrappy Trips blocks are the same size as the Ribbon Stars that have been joined into groups of four. They make a good-looking combination!

The rest of my orange blocks are made from my collection of 30's fabrics. The pinwheels and nine-patch blocks don't fit together quite as neatly as the other blocks, but it's a pretty group of pastel blocks.

I'm anxious to find out what our RSC color will be for October. I just checked Angela's page for the 2017 RSC, and it shows that we will be using pink for October. That leaves darks (brown, black) for November, and December is assembly/finishing time. Now is also a good time to start thinking about a new RSC project or two for 2018!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

RSC Ribbon Stars Layouts

I finished making the last of my Ribbon Star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge yesterday and have been playing with some possible layouts for my blocks. I made star blocks in green, blue, yellow and orange, with at least 20 blocks of each color, plus a few extras. My blocks measure 7.5", so an 8 x 10 setting would finish at 60" x 75". The photos do not show all of the blocks.

Choice #1--groups of 4 (showing 6 x 8 blocks, would be 8 x 10)

Choice #2--vertical columns (there would be 2 columns of each color)

Choice #3--this one might require more blocks. It would end up 9 x 9 blocks, finishing at 67.5" square, a rather awkward size. Another option would be to use the number of blocks shown here (6 x 6) and make two baby quilts at 45" square.

I'm having a hard time deciding which option I prefer. Let me know what you think--your comments are always helpful and very much appreciated!

Thanks to those of you who were interested in adopting my multicolor orphan blocks. The winner of the adoption drawing was comment #7 by GranChris. Congratulations to her!

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 9/18/17

I don't have anything new on my design wall to share, but I do have something on my cutting table.  I was cleaning up the scraps from my orange blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and laid out a scrappy pumpkin shape. This might have to become a mini wall quilt sometime soon!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Check out all of them for tons of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

Orange Ribbon Stars and Orphan Blocks

I finally had a productive week on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. I finished 20 orange Ribbon Star blocks. This will be the last group of blocks I make for this project because I have run out of white-on-white scraps. I have a couple pieces of WOW yardage, but don't want to keep repeating them in future blocks, and I certainly don't need to buy new WOW fabrics right now.

I have about a dozen more Ribbon Star blocks in other colors to finish making, then I will have enough for a good-sized throw quilt. It will have stars in orange, yellow, green and blue. I can't wait to finish the last batch of blocks and look at the colors up on the wall together!

I'm sure many of you remember these blocks that I was making in the spring when our RSC assignment was multicolor scraps? They have been sitting in a box ever since, and I know that I really don't want to finish putting them together. Good news--they could be yours! I am participating in Cyndi's Orphan Adoption event and offering these blocks up for adoption. If you would like to win them, go to THIS POST and leave me a comment there. I will be drawing a name on Wednesday, Sept. 20. You can see other "orphans" being offered for adoption at Quilting is more fun than Housework.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I'm also a late addition to Scraptastic Tuesday at she can quilt. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Orange Scraps

The stash numbers are not changing in either direction this week--nothing used and nothing added. I have been slowly joining units together on my Ring Cycles quilt, and I am also working on some orange Ribbon Star blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but nothing has been completed yet. I have been very tempted by recent sale emails from Hancock's of Paducah, but have managed to resist ordering anything yet. It was very difficult to stay strong through all the Labor Day sales last week!

2017 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:              0.00 yards

Used year to date:        63.25 yards

Added last week:              0.0 yards
Added year to date:        8.25 yards

Net used year to date:  55.0 yards

Here are some of the orange bits and pieces that will become Ribbon Star blocks. At the top is a stack of 3" strips. Below that are groups of HSTs, some ready to be stitched and others already completed. The squares on the right end will become the block centers. I hope to make 16-20 orange Ribbon Star blocks by the end of the month.

I am continuing to join Kate at Life in Pieces in tracking how many days each week I manage to get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I missed one day of stitching last week, but plan to get back on track for the rest of the month.

15 Minute Challenge:  
9/3 - 9/9                   6 of 7 days
2017 Total          245 of 252 days

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate, and add your own report so we can keep the linky going. I am also linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Julie in GA

Orange Scrappy Trips

I've been MIA over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for the past few weeks due to a combination of busy work schedule and nothing to share for our August color assignment of light neutrals. I did discover an inspiration piece that may become a future neutral quilt design.

I included two photos because the colors varied so much with and without the flash. I love the different textures in the colored bands. The source of my inspiration--a Kleenex box!

As we head into September, our RSC color changes over to orange. When I pulled out my 3" orange strips for the Scrappy Trips blocks, I was disappointed by the very limited selection of fabrics. Then I made the happy discovery that I had already made three Scrappy Trips blocks in orange. After searching through photo files and old blog posts, I determined that these were made in April of 2016. It turns out that I only need to make one more block for this month.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Striped Squares

Last month our color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was blue, and for August we are working with light neutrals. It was a lucky bit of serendipity that I had pulled out my shirt stripe blocks, because they contain plenty of blue stripes plus lots of white/cream/light fabrics. I spent one weekend cutting tons of triangles from shirt parts, and have been putting them together into blocks since then.

Right now the design wall is filled with 6" and 9" blocks. I still have more 6" blocks to finish off, plus lots of little 3" blocks. They will be joined together in a random manner rather than in rows by size. You can see that some of the blocks are each made from a single fabric, and other blocks combine two fabrics. Here are couple of my favorite 9" blocks. Each of them uses both sides of a single fabric, giving a subtle difference in lighter/darker stripes. (It's a little easier to see what I mean in the grey block rather than the light blue/peach block.)

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

RSC Ribbon Stars

Thanks to all who commented on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge post last week with your opinions on my Scrappy Trips blocks. I appreciate everyone's input. Unfortunately, you weren't very much help. The comments were almost evenly split between preferring the red blocks alone, the red and blue together, or no preference on the two choices. I have set the blocks aside for now until I am ready to make a decision on them.

In the meantime, I have been trying to catch up on my Ribbon Stars in blue. I've had all the triangles pieced for a couple weeks, but didn't get around to assembling the blocks until last night and this morning. I ended up with 17 blue Ribbon Star blocks for July.

Ribbon Stars, 7.5" blocks (finished size)

Since we are more than halfway through the year, I decided it was time to take a look at my different colors of Ribbon Stars together. I haven't made these blocks every month (no red or multi-color stars.) Apparently I started out using white/cream/beige background fabrics with the teal/turquoise blocks and the purples, then switched to the white-on-whites later. I'm not sure if I will combine the different type of backgrounds in one quilt or keep them separate. This photo shows approximately half of the blocks I have finished.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA